A double scoop of Peter Pie
by wolfypuppypiles
Summary: Peter Parker is needed for a mission with The Guardians of the galaxy and of course Tony is coming along too. Peter is so excited to work with his heroes but when something goes wrong all he can do is feel guilty. "I should have held on but I let go and now Quill is hurt." And it's all his fault.


(I don't know what that title is either but whatever lol Titles are soo hard

This was written for two prompts one of which was sent in by mmmmmriley so thank you! I hope you all like this!)

"Hold on. Why do you need us again?"

Quill spun his steering wheel to the left, ship tilting as he steered around space debris. "Groot isn't...available and we need someone with his skill set for this mission."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "And you think that's us?"

Quill tugged on the steering wheel again, making Drax stumble behind him as the ship swung. "The kid has his webs and you have your uses."

Tony rolled his eyes as Peter scooted eagerly closer to the screen they were calling from. His eyes were huge, filled with awe for the guardians.

"What happened to Groot? Is he okay?"

Quill rolled his eyes this time as Gamora sighed from where she leaned lazily on his seat.

"He's grounded."

Rocket began laughing maniacally, tiny legs kicking the air as he held his middle. "He filled Quill's bed with wet leaves."

Drax's booming laugh came through the speakers loud enough to make them rattle and Peters grin widened. "It was a hilarious joke!"

The corner of Gamoras mouth turned upwards but Quill wasn't laughing. He turned in his seat to yell at the racoon. "It was disgusting! And you two encouraged him! I should be grounding you too!"

Tony shrugged. "I don't see what's so bad about wet leaves."

Gamora's smile widened. "You would if you knew where they came from."

Rocket began to laugh again as Peter scrunched his nose up. "Ewww."

Tony waved a hand, raising his voice above the laughter to try and get back to business. "What's the mission you need us for?"

"There's a piece of equipment we need to get back. You in?"

Peter turned his wide eyes to Tony, bouncing slightly as he held his hands in front of him like a prayer, silently begging his mentor to say yes.

"Absolutely."

….

"Peter, honey, your mask is over there." The woman-alien-she pointed to Tony's desk, giving the teenager a gentle smile. The guardians had parked their ship in the compounds garage before all crowding into the briefing room to prepare for the mission.

"Oh. Thanks, Gamora." Peters smile could not get wider, his eyes practically sparkling, unable to take his gaze off her even as he went to retrieve his mask.

Quill nudged his arm, frowning. "Hey, easy. We have a thing going."

Gamora kicked Quill's boot with her own as Peter scowled. "I-I'm not-She's like the same age as my Aunt, dude! I just...I think she's really cool."

Said, really cool woman, smiled proudly. "Thank you, Peter."

Tony kept a close eye on Rocket as he played with the holo-table, making sure he didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to as he addressed the team. "Okay, everyone settle down. Quill would you kindly hurry up and tell us what the mission actually is, please."

Peter took a seat, legs swinging under his chair as he listened eagerly to the self-proclaimed Starlord.

"Right. Someone in your solar system stole something of ours and we need it back. It's kind of...dangerous."

Rocket's laugh was more disconcerting than anything, his sharp teeth gleaming in the eerie light of the holo-table. "Dangerous is an understatement. It's a weapon of my own design."

Tony frowned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Which means what?"

Rocket laughed again, putting everyone else in the room on edge. "Which means it could blow up your entire planet in one go."

Quill crossed his arms, tone hard and angry. "This isn't funny, Rocket. You could destroy my home planet and everyone on it and all because you can't put your things away. I told you to put it somewhere safe!"

Rocket shrugged, tiny clawed hands raising in defiance. "It was in a box!"

Quill's temper was becoming a problem, his face reddening as he raised his voice. "So? You didn't even lock it! It was just laying around the ship! Groot could have gotten into it! And now Dirac, a known slaver, has got his hands on it! You should have listened to me!"

Rocket hopped on the table, voice rising to match his teammates furious one. "You're not the boss of me, Star-ass!"

"You're the ass!"

Gamora added her growl to the mix, cutting both males off mid-insult. "That's enough! If either of you embarrasses this team any more I will kill you both and get the bomb myself."

Peter rested his chin in his hands, elbows propped up on the holo-table as he smiled, sighing. "I love these guys."

….

Peter tightened his grip on his webs as he hung from Tony's suit, flying from The guardians' spaceship to Dirac's huge one. He'd parked it by the moon, the giant mass of metal almost as big as the moon itself.

"Woah, it's ginormous!"

Rocket clung to the side of the ship, quickly pulling at wires and cords until he'd managed to open the door from the outside. "Wait till you see his pet. That things really impressive."

Tony set Peter down on the cool metal floor of the ship, the teenager immediately going to follow the racoon.

"Wait, Spider-Man." Tony pulled him back, hand on his arm and waited till Quill and Gamora had gone ahead. "Stay behind me."

Peter suppressed a groan but did what he was told, following after Tony, Drax bringing up the rear. He'd been lucky enough that Tony had let him come at all, in his new Iron-Spider suit, and he wasn't about to complain.

The whole ship was cold and dank, space dust and garbage littering the place. There were empty cages lining dim hallways and shackles chained to walls, reminding Peter of what the owner had been known for.

Dirac had a terrible reputation for enslaving aliens across the galaxies, that was until The Guardians destroyed his ship and released his prisoners, leaving him to rot in a distant prison somewhere in space.

But apparently, he'd escaped and found another ship. Fantastic.

"Everyone be careful, he probably knows we're here already. Keep moving and keep a lookout."

It wasn't long before they'd made their way through twisting hallways and dark passages and come to a vast room, junk and debris everywhere. Rocket went right over to a complicated looking contraption that was laying in the middle of the floor, wires and lights spilling from the mass of metal. His, once small contraption, had been rigged to a larger device making it impossible to simply grab and run with.

"Ooh, there she is. Hello baby." His tail whipped happily behind him as the rest of the team looked around, searching for any threats.

The room was so large and so dim that Peter couldn't see all the walls, the dark emptiness hiding them from him. But he could hear something, and it seemed as if no one else did.

It was a heavy, huffing, breathing coming from one of the walls shrouded in darkness. The sound was so heavy, so huge, that the beast it was coming from would have to be massive. Peter looked around at the other heroes, trying to see if they noticed it but none of them had the senses that Peter did.

Something rumbled, the floor beneath him vibrating as the thing Peter had heard, moved, massive foot thumping the floor. No one else heard that either but a shiver ran up his spine, sharp and dangerous.

"Guys. There's something here."

Tony turned at his voice, helmet obscuring his face, though Peter knew from his tone that his eyebrows were furrowed. "What is it?"

Gamora watched him, her sword at the ready, as Peter answered. "I don't know but it's big. I can hear it over there. I think we should hurry."

Tony looked to where the teenager pointed, Gamora following his gaze.

Rocket let out a rough laugh, little claws twisting coils of copper and clipping bits of wire as he worked on defusing the bomb. "Oh, that's Lucille. You're going to love her."

Tony came over to stand in front of Peter, hand on his chest, blocking him from getting any closer to the wall where the noises were coming from. "Nuh uh, I don't think so. Who's Lucille?"

"My pride and joy!" A loud voice boomed through the low light, all heads turning towards it, to the door behind them.

Dirac was waiting there, green...everything sticking out like a sore thumb amid the lifeless wash grey of the metal ship. His thin body was green, insectile head and yellow fly eyes glowing in the low light, his green cape behind him.

Rocket barely spared him a glance as he kept working on the bomb, Dirac still talking. "You thought you could get in here unnoticed? And I see you've brought friends."

Tony stepped in front of Peter, not liking those disgusting eyes on his kid.

Gamora raised her sword, lip curling up in disgust. "What are you doing with our bomb?"

Dirac sneered, unimpressed. "Don't you mean my bomb? You really shouldn't leave things lying around. I'm going to use it to blow up Quill's miserable planet so if you don't mind I'd prefer you stop touching it."

He raised a pistol, aiming it at Rocket, only for Quill to step in front of his teammate with his own pistol drawn. "Hey, why don't we talk about this instead? You can't still be mad about your last ship. You have a new one."

Dirac furrowed his impressively large eyebrows, stepping forward as his temper grew. "You know exactly why I'm mad and it's not about the ship or the slaves you took from me."

Peter heard the rumble again, head whipping to where Lucille was being held, spider senses screaming. "Guys!"

Quill laughed. "Oh, I know why you're mad. And I would be too. I mean she was beautiful."

Tony had no idea what they were talking about, hands raised and beams waiting should he need to shoot. "Sorry, why is he mad at you?"

Quill lowered his gun an inch as he laughed, eyes finding Tony. "I slept with his sister. Well, adopted sister. She's not even the same species as him."

Gamora growled, annoyed that Quill would gloat and rile up the guy that already wanted to kill them. "Does that really matter right now?!"

Quill's voice raised to meet hers, insistent. "It does to me! He's ugly!"

Dirac screamed in rage, firing at the hero as he lunged for a button on the wall. "You're dead, Star-Lord!"

Things exploded into motion, Quill blocking the blow and firing back as the room began to rumble, a horrible churning noise echoing through the vast space.

"What's happening?!" Tony's panicked voice rang out amongst the gunfire and Gamora quickly turned to the new oncoming threat.

"Lucille is happening. Spider-Man, you need to use your webs and hold her back until we can take her down! Iron-Man, aim for the eyes!"

Tony flew above as Peter watched the west wall, readying his webs as Quill, Drax and Dirac fought behind him.

The horrible grating sound was the beasts cell opening, allowing her to leap free into the light. Lucille was all at once, terrifying and beautiful. Peter had never seen anything like her.

She was massive, as tall as a two-story house where she walked on her four massive legs. She was shaped and built like a tiger, but covered in quills like a porcupine. Her paws had huge claws that scratched at the metal floors as she stalked forward, the sound screeching awfully like a knife dragged over a plate as her spiked tail whipped angrily behind her. She was deadly, her short mane of spikes rippling as she slunk closer, and that was before she growled and bared her fangs.

Peter sort of loved her despite the fear running through his every nerve and he took just a second to admire her before he sprang into action.

Gamora was wielding her sword against Lucille's claws, her enhanced strength helping her fend off the attack before she was shredded. Tony flew above, firing beams at the creature but her quills protected her from every attack, untouchable and impenetrable.

Peter quickly fired his webs, dodging a gunshot from Dirac as he did, and wrapped the sticky lines around Lucille's tail, securing it to the floor. Now, he understood why he was needed for the mission, being the only one other than Groot who could hold her down enough for the others to get at her eyes.

She was not happy to be tied down and roared, the sounds seeming to hit Peters ears like physical blows but he kept moving, sprinting around to web up her front paws.

He stuck one paw to the ground, pulling her left under her to her right side before doing the opposite to the other. Gamora dodged Lucille's snapping jaws, sliding across the floor in front of her before leaping back to her feet.

"Spider-Man, now!"

Peter raced forward, firing a web to one of the creature's ears and pulling her head to the ground, holding her still so that Gamora could kill her. But Lucille was strong and she did not like to be pinned down.

Her huge bulk was too much for Peter to hold, he couldn't do it on his own. His webs began to snap and he added another, winding them up his arms and holding on to them tight, heels braced against the floor.

Tony fired beams to distract her as Gamora dodged Dirac's gunfire to get to the beasts eyes, her only weak spot. But Peter didn't know how long he could hold on for.

The webs were tightening on his arms, pulling and pinching around his biceps, pulling taut and squeezing his forearms and it hurt. But he held tight, he had to, just for a little while longer.

So, he locked his knees and grit his teeth, tightening his grip on the webs, even his Iron-Spider suit pitched in with extra legs but still, Lucille was stronger and there was only so much he could do.

Gamora was almost to Lucille's face when the beast yanked her head to the side, too strong for Peter to hold her back. He was pulled along with her, falling to the ground as she tore one of her paws free.

Tony called out Peters name, panicked and rushed as Lucille brought her newly freed paw down on the fallen hero. Her giant paw pinned Peter to the ground, his right arm snapping under the weight. He barely felt the pain but he certainly heard the crack as his arm broke. It rippled through his arm and he felt the jolt of the break all the way up in his shoulder. But he didn't have time to think about it much less feel the pain.

Tony grabbed the snapped web, still attached to the beast and pulled it, using his suits jets to tear Lucille's paw away from Peter.

The kid got up as soon as the weight disappeared and pulled Lucille's head back to the ground, holding his webs tight.

Karen put a warning up in Peter's vision, voice worried. "Your radius is broken, Peter. I advise refraining from using it until you can seek medical attention."

The teenager only grunted, pulling harder on the webs as the creature roared in fury. "Kinda busy here, Karen."

He held on as hard as he could, knees locked and heels braced against the ground but still, Lucille was stronger. She roared, snapping her jaws as she reared up, the webs wound around Peters' arms tightening and pulling until Peter felt his wrist being pulled from its socket.

It felt horrible, the unnatural slipping of his joints being separated in a way they were not designed for.

He tried to hang on but the pain tore up his arm and his wrist popped free. A scream escaped behind his gritted teeth and his fingers no longer responded, letting go of the webs.

Lucille's bonds slackened and she immediately reared up, snapping the webs tying her down. Her paws came free and her head rose up in a roar, the quills on her tail cutting through the webbing.

Peter fell to the ground as Lucille spun and swiped a paw at the heroes around her, catching Quill with her left. She batted him across the room, sending him crashing into a wall where he slumped to the floor and didn't move.

"Quill!" Gamora sounded scared, making Peters heart thump hard in concern as the guardian leapt up, and drove her sword into Lucille's left eye, stabbing it deep enough to pierce her brain. The beast roared, the sound cutting off with a whimper before she slumped to the floor, the weight of her body shaking the entire ship.

Dirac watched her go down, distracting him from his own battle with Drax. "No!"

Drax took the opportunity and sliced through the alien's neck in one swift motion, his knife dripping blue blood as Dirac's head rolled across the floor.

But there was no joy yet for their victory. Gamora abandoned her sword in Lucille's head and ran instead for Quill.

"Peter! Please be okay."

He lay where he had landed, slumped face down and unmoving. Gamora dropped to her knees beside him, strong hands pulling him onto his back and leaning down to see if he was alive.

Peters' stomach rolled as he watched her pull her hands back, green palms slick with red.

"No, no, no. What have I done?"

Tony found his own Peter and tried to get him to stay on the ground, metal clad hands falling short. "Spider-Man, stop-"

Peter got to his shaky feet and made his way to where Gamora was pressing down on Quill's side, blood spilling from beneath her fingers. His voice trembled, quiet and afraid. "Is he-?"

Gamora looked up at the teenager, worried expression twisting forcefully into something more reassuring. "He'll be okay. One of the claws got him in the side, but he'll be fine."

Quills eyes were shut, face pale and lips slightly parted. There was a red mark across his forehead where he'd hit the wall and his jacket was sliced open at his side, red dripping onto the floor.

And it was all Peters fault.

Tony's gentle hands found his shoulders as Peter wavered on his feet. "I should have held on."

Drax came over with a first aid kit he'd brought over from their own ship, as Tony's hands tightened on Peter, catching him as his knees buckled.

"It's not your fault. You did everything you could."

Peter shook his head as Tony guided him to the floor, gently pressing on his chest to get him to lay down. "No, I let go. I didn't mean to but my hands just wouldn't - and now Quill is hurt."

His eyes were slightly glassy and Tony was getting increasingly worried as Peter tried to sit up again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm-"

Tony pressed him back to the ground carefully slipping Peter's web shooters off. "Peter, don't move. You're arms broken and you've dislocated your wrist."

The kid didn't want to stay down, however, determined to make Gamora understand that he was sorry. He tried rolling onto his side, craning his neck to see the woman hastily patching up her teammates wound.

"Gamora, I tried to hold it. You have to believe me. I tried!"

Tony lost his patience and pressed his hand back to Peters' chest, forcing him to lay down.

"Peter, stop moving! Let me help you!"

Gamora looked up from her work and gave the teenager a reassuring smile. "It's okay, I know it wasn't your fault. Look, he's fine. The bleeding's stopped, see?"

Tony grunted in annoyance at Peters incessant wriggling and lifted the teenage instead, helping Peter to sit up and lay back against his mentor's chest.

Once sitting up Peter could see that she was right. Gamora had applied a salve to Quill's wound and it was sealed shut. Star Lord's chest was rising and falling in deep, even breaths. He was okay.

Tony's arm was wrapped around Peters' stomach, keeping him sitting up against him as the teenager relaxed, leaning back into his embrace. "He's okay? I didn't kill him?"

Gamora shook her head, a small smile softening her features as she rested back on her haunches beside her teammate. "He's okay. You did a good job today. We couldn't have won his fight without you."

Her words were reassuring but Peter still felt awful, especially now that the pain in his arm was actually beginning to register.

"Good. I- Ow. Ow, ow. Mr Stark, my arm is really hurting now."

The Avenger sighed, one arm around the kid, warm palm pressed to Peters' chest, while his other used Peter's web shooters. "I know, kiddo. Just hang on."

Tony adjusted the web settings and used the sticky strands to secure Peters broken arm to his chest, in lieu of a sling or splint.

"We're just lucky you only messed up one arm. Now, will you please stop moving?" He let go of the boy and moved in front of him, one had on his side to make sure he wouldn't fall back.

The eyes on Peters mask were squeezed tightly shut as Peter tried to breathe through the pain. "Yes. Can we go home? I just want to go to bed."

Tony tapped the side of Peters' neck, making the kids mask roll back so that he could see his face. "How about we get you checked out first. Did you hit your head?"

"No."

Tony brushed Peters hair back, narrowing his eyes at the red welt above his eyebrow. He gently brushed his thumb across the mark, just enough to let Peter feel it.

"What's that then?"

The teenager flinched away from his hand, a hiss of pain coming from him as he lifted his good hand to his head. "Ow. I don't...I must have hit it when Lucille pinned me down."

Tony hummed, hooking a finger under Peters' chin to tilt his head up, peering into his eyes. "You look okay. I don't think you have a concussion but I don't want you moving until we have that arm fixed. Do you understand?"

Peter nodded, sullen as his eyes fixed again on Quill's injured form. "Yeah."

Tony looked over to where Quill was beginning to stir, Gamora shushing him. Rocket made his way over, clawed hands on his hips.

"I've disarmed my baby. Drax can haul it back to our ship. Ooh looks like Quill needs hauling too. I'm not carrying him."

Quill's arm suddenly swung out, brushing the racoon away, his voice slurred and wobbly. "I don' need car'in. I got it."

Gamora eased her hands under him, helping him sit. "Go easy. Don't move so much. That salve is only a temporary fix, we still need to get you patched up."

Peter shuffled forward, bad arm secured to his chest as he reached out with his good one, clumsy fingers pressing to Quill's chest. He seemed to be searching for damage but only succeeded in smearing his fingers in blood.

He stayed silent, eyes glued to the long line across Quill's ribs where the slave was holding him together. Quill looked down at himself, swaying slightly where he sat and slowly took the other Peters shaking fingers.

"I'm okay." His voice was so quiet, meant only for the teenager making Spider-Man's eyes bounce up to Quills face only to flicker away guiltily.

Gamora wrapped an arm around her teammate's waist, other pulling Quill's arm across her shoulders. "Let's get out of here."

Peters' eyes remained on the smears of blood on the floor as Gamora lifted Starlord from the floor, and stayed there even as Tony's hands met his waist.

"Come on, kid. Let's get you off this miserable hunk of space metal."

Peter didn't reply, the only indication he'd heard being his attempt to get his legs under him as Tony gently lifted him from the frigid floor.

Every step hurt, pain radiating out from his broken arm, his head aching and his whole body complaining about the rough treatment from Lucille. He'd certainly have impressive bruises later, but what hurt much worse was every groan and breath of pain that came from Quill.

He could almost ignore the way his ribs screamed with each breath and the wrongness of his dislocated wrist but watching the way Quills feel stumbled clumsily down the halls, blood occasionally dripping onto the floor, was not something that Peter could ignore or ever forget.

Even Rocket seemed to be concerned, his tiny hand finding the hem of Quill's jacket and holding on tight, face turned away as if embarrassed that he cared. If his face hadn't been covered in fur he'd surely be blushing.

And Peter just felt like throwing up. Or crying. Maybe both.

Gamora made Quill lay down as soon as they got back to the ship and she stayed with him the whole ride back to earth. Once there, Tony lead everyone to the med bay where they could get patched up.

Quill went to a bed, curtain drawn as he was taken care of, while Tony and Bruce took Peter to his.

He sat on the side of the examination table, suit pulled down to his waist as his legs swung over the side. His eyes stayed fixed to the ground, whole body stiff as Bruce held his bad arm.

"Okay, the x-rays look okay. Usually, this would require surgery but with your healing abilities, I don't think you'll need it. I'll just reset these and give you a temporary brace until it's all healed."

Peter wasn't even really listening, disinterested in his own fate, but that didn't stop him from flinching everytime Bruce touched him.

"I know it hurts. This kind of dislocation can be particularly painful but it'll-"

The teenager's voice was small, not intending to be heard. "I deserve it."

Tony stood from where he had been sitting, arms crossed and frowning. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

Bruce took a step back, gaze flickering between the two heroes as they argued.

Peter finally looked up at Tony, eyes filled with tears and voice hard. "I said I deserve it. Quill is hurt because of me and you're sitting there like everything is fine and I didn't screw it all up!"

Tony's mouth parted a little but nothing came out and he shook his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Bruce ducked his head, quickly finding an exit. "I'm going to get your brace. Don't move."

He left in a hurry, curtain swinging behind him as Tony finally found his voice. "How could you have possibly screwed up?"

Peter sniffed, using his good hand to angrily wipe away the traitorous tears that fell. "Everyone was counting on me to hold Lucille down, that's why we were brought on this mission and I couldn't do it. I let go and Quill was hurt. He could have died and it would have been my fault."

Tony narrowed his eyes and lifted a hand, irritation making him gesture more vigorously than usual. "Okay, Peter. If you're so bad tell me, whos claw cut up Quill?"

Peter blinked, taken aback. "Um, well, Lucille but-"

"And who's bomb was taken by Dirac to put us there in the first place?"

"Rockets."

Tony didn't stop, adamant to make the kid understand. "What did you do when your arm broke? Did you let go?"

Peter frowned, confused. "Well, no."

"Even though you knew it wouldn't be good for you, you still held on."

"It didn't really hurt at the time, so it's not a big deal."

Tony raised another hand. "Did you want to let go?"

Peter shook his head, inching forward, drawn in by Tony's questions. "No, of course not!"

"Then why did you?"

Peter looked down at his wrist, bruised and swelling where it was cradled in his lap, ice pack wrapped around it. "My wrist popped out and my fingers didn't work anymore. I still can't move them."

Tony nodded, crossing his arms. "Then why is it your fault?"

Peter opened his mouth to answer but found none. He really had done everything he could.

Tony's voice softened. "You held on even when your body wanted to give up. And you heard what Gamora said. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to win."

Peter sniffed, tears still coming, choking him and making his voice crack under the weight. "Then why do I still feel so horrible?"

Tony took a seat beside the teenager and wrapped his arm around him, pulling his good shoulder to lean against his chest. "Probably because your arm is broken, kiddo." His hand rubbed soothing circles into Peters back as the kid laid his head on his mentor's shoulder.

Peter huffed out a small laugh, nodding. "Probably. It hurts like a butt cheek on a stick."

This time Tony laughed, hugging him closer. "I would tell you to watch your language but that ones pretty good. I'll let you keep that one."

His tine turned quiet and soft as he held Peter against him. "You'll be okay, Spider-Baby."

The teenager sighed, feeling better already. "Thanks, Mr Stark."

….

It wasn't until later that Peter got to talk to Quill. After Bruce had set his arm (There may have been a lot of screaming involved and the almost breaking of Tony's hand where he held it too tight) and put it in a brace and sling, he was finally able to find Starlord.

The guardian was sitting up in the hospital bed, three empty jelly cups in his lap and a new one in his hand and he smiled when Peter came in. "Hey! It's the spider boy! You did great on the mission today. Gamora told me all about it."

Peter frowned, watching as Quill almost spilt his jelly trying to get it into his mouth. "She told you about it?"

Quill nodded, distracted by his wobbly dessert. "Yeah, I can't remember most of it because of the old head bump."

Guilt sank down in Peters' stomach like a stone and he took a step back from the bed, head low and voice quiet. "Oh. Sorry, I-"

Quill didn't seem to notice Peters trepidation, smiling as he looked up at the teenager, hand swinging out and smacking against Peters' chest excitedly. "And dude! She told me about how you had your arm broken and you still held on! How did you do that? I mean, Porqupiger-"

Peter quietly corrected, Quill not noticing at all. "Lucille."

"-is huge and you just held her down all on your own? Man, I was out for the count after just one hit and you had your arm snapped and you just kept on going?! That's insane. You're a badass."

Peter couldn't help but let out a laugh as a blush warmed his cheeks. "Thanks. I'm just sorry you got hurt."

Quill shook his head, putting down his half-finished jelly cup and grabbing another to give to Peter. "No, little dude, don't worry about it. You should have seen me that time I fought my dad. There was this big, gross, tentacle thing and it went right through me. It felt super weird."

Peter took the offered treat and sat down on the edge of the bed, eyes wide with awe. "Woah, could you tell me about it? I mean, you've been all around the galaxy, right? What's it like?"

Quill was more than happy to regale the teenager with stories, delighting the teenager for hours until the stone of guilt in Peters' stomach disappeared, replaced only with awe for the barely legendary Star-Lord.


End file.
